


Negotiations

by commas_and_ampersands



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Live Action TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-30 00:12:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16754149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commas_and_ampersands/pseuds/commas_and_ampersands
Summary: "A joint concert tour with the Three Lights?  I'm not sure I like that idea."





	Negotiations

**Author's Note:**

> Written June 2006; some revisions November 2017

It wasn't that Minako didn't have full confidence in her manager.  He might make more use of her manicurist than she did, but it didn't mean that he wasn't fully capable when it came to his job.  He was a whiz at booking venues, keeping her as comfortable as possible in every anticipated circumstance (and a few unanticipated ones), looking out for her safety and reputation, and even making sure she had enough time set aside for her regular check ups with the doctor.  In some ways, Saitou had taken better care of her than either of her parents.  He'd even been good enough to turn a blind eye when she had mysteriously vanished to take of Mio's resurgence earlier that year.  
  
But there were times when she wondered if he had inhaled a bit too much nail polish remover.  
  
"A joint concert tour with the Three Lights?" Minako asked incredulously, frowning as her hairdresser ran a flat iron through her hair.  "I'm not sure I like that idea."  
  
Saitou plucked at his sleeves, waving his hands about in his usual fashion.  "Oh, Minako.  Don't be ridiculous.  They're a very successful group right now!"  
  
Minako continued frowning, not anywhere near convinced.  She had heard of the up-and-coming idol group the year before, when they'd just begun to perform in Japan and just before they'd been signed to her own agency.  The band was comprised of three boys about her age, maybe younger.  They included the stoic, bookish Taiki, the pretty boy Yaten, and their front man, the “super cool” Seiya.  She had heard some of their music and could concede it wasn't terrible, but hardly anything special.  Their fame stemmed more from how they looked playing their music than anything they actually played.  As far as she was concerned, they were just another cookie cutter boy band that would quickly fade into the background, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted their names linked with hers.  
  
"That's taking a step back, don't you think?" Minako asked.  Before she could continue her thoughts, the hairdresser announced Minako's hair was finished.  Minako had worked with her before and found her work to be impeccable.  She said so, thanked the woman for her hard work, and then proceeded to add a few finishing touches to her blush before the photo shoot.  
  
Meanwhile, her manager sighed, dancing around to her side in an attempt to hold her eye contact and her interest. "Minako, they are as successful as you were when you first started!  They could be big!  Besides, if we went on a joint concert tour with them, you could build off of their fan base."  
  
Minako stopped, her gaze narrowed.  She turned back to her manager and said, in a voice that had only recently terrified youma into fleeing in terror, "Wouldn't  _they_  be building off of  _my_ fan base?"  
  
Saitou waved her off as if it made no difference.  "I know what this is about.  The old competitive Aino Minako is refusing to share her spotlight.  This is just like with that Kuroki Mio and Mars Reiko."  
  
Minako snorted a bit, but managed to pass it off as a sneeze.  She couldn't wait to see the look on Rei's face when she found out that she'd been compared with Mio.  It had been awhile since she'd found new ways to tease the shrine maiden, and it would be good not to rehash old material when they met in a few weeks.  
  
A moment later, Minako shook her head.  "It isn't that.  I just... think that if I'm going to embark on a joint tour, it would be better to team up with someone more on my level."  
  
"I'm glad to hear you finally get to the point, Aino-san."  
  
Minako spun in her chair again, surprised to hear a strange voice in her dressing room.  Kou Seiya himself leaned against her doorway.  He looked the same as he always did in magazines: good-looking and all too aware of it.  His dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail at his neck, a few wavy bangs hanging down on his forehead.  And he apparently wore sunglasses indoors.  Minako resolved to dislike him for that alone.  
  
"Kou-san," Minako greeted, her voice devoid of the expected civility.  "I don't recall inviting you."  
  
Seiya jerked his head in her manager's direction.  "He invited me."  
  
Minako glanced over at her manager, giving him a look that she had perfected against magical enemies and professional rivals, against princes and queens and death itself.  Her eyes were flint and cold steel, promising unavoidable retribution and the punishment only a warrior like her could mete out.  
  
Unfortunately, Saitou had inured himself to her dark moods long ago.  He just backed out of the room, holding his hands in front of his face.  "Oh, scary!"  
  
Minako continued to glare after him for a few moments, before turning back to the unwanted wannabe in her midst.  "If you heard something you didn't like, I apologize."  Her tone wasn't the least bit conciliatory, and he knew that, but it was the words that mattered.  "However, I didn't invite you, and you came here to listen."  
  
Seiya glared.  It might have been more effective without the obnoxious eyewear, but she doubted it.  "Do you have some sort of problem with me, Aino-san?  Because I'm a newcomer?"  
  
"Not because you're a newcomer," Minako countered, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.  Mio had been the one to start that rumor, and not even killing her had erased it.  "I'm not that petty."  
  
"Then what is it?" Seiya snapped.  He tried to loom over in an attempt to intimidate her.  At least that's what she took it to mean.  Other people, usually men, had tried posturing like before to cow her.  It never worked.  Why word of that never got around, she couldn't say.  
  
Minako stood up, forcing Seiya to move away from her or to crowd her in a way she doubted he'd be comfortable with.  There was looming and there was menacing, after all.  As predicted, he stepped back, allowing her to grab her large red leather bag.  Artemis's fuzzy, frozen face peaked out over the edge, as always.  She slung the bag over her shoulder and said, "In this business, you need to earn the right to tour with me.  Convince me you're good enough, and I might change my position."  She smirked, flicking his sunglasses.  "But I warn you, I'm very stubborn."  
  
That said, she turned and sauntered out of the room, hips swinging in concert with her heel strikes.  She didn’t doubt that Seiya had taken a moment to enjoy the view before he went in search of Saitou to try and salvage the floundering deal.  
  
Once she was out of earshot, she poked the stuffed animal in her bag.  "Artemis?" she asked, keeping her voice low.  "Did you get a weird feeling from that guy?"  
  
Artemis blinked to life, nodding shortly.  "Yes.  What do you think it means?"  
  
"I think it means that I need to reschedule my lunch with Rei."

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of those times when I really wish the live action had been able to continue past season one, because PGSM!Minako versus the Three Lights would be 8 different kinds of amazing, at least.


End file.
